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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

While making the daily internet rounds I came across this amazing piece of news courtesy of The Cut; a new internet page that allows any fashion luvah to contribute funding to emerging talents, the company in question is called Fashion Stake and when describing what they are about they use the words “buying a stake in the company” that at first glance leads you to believe you actually get to own a piece of the fashion brand you decide to pony up moolah for which is not the case, you do not get to triple your investment or get actual profit but instead its more closely resembling a donation, as a supporter –see not investor supporter- what you get are credits for purchases, special offers and discounts, invites to fashion shows or showroom –this part I like-The creator of the site Vivian Weng worked helping fashion brands get capital which gave her the opportunity to witness how hard it is for designers –even well known ones- to get any money to start or expand their ventures.This is such a wonderful idea, a lot of talent is sometimes unable to produce enough to invest in themselves and their creativity, you can’t sell on paper, designers need well crafted samples to present to buyers and/or to pay for a mini stand at a tradeshow in order to get off the ground.The designers chosen for the first batch of the site must have fan bases and also produced previous collections which I think is a bit limiting in terms of who can make do of this opportunity, what I mean is if you are “selling $50 stakes” should you not try to at least include a few new, like on paper and maybe one sample type fresh out of uni to see were he can get? And on the other hand designers with established fan bases how much can they really raise money wise that is truly significant in terms of funding to take them to the next level? It would be sufficient if we take as an example the flood of $5 and $10 donations to the Obama campaign from millions of citizens made it possible for that camp to raise more greens than the opponents so Ms. Weng does have a serious money tree on her hands with potential to do a lot of good for the future stars of the industry I just wish there was also a space for the ones that are actually starting who may have the idea but not the cash to make it happen, maybe Fashion Stake will get there as the site takes off and matures a natural progression.Also as The Cut points out real time target market research is a big plus on this idea, a money tree I tell ya!!!